The Unwritten Rule
by SJ Howitt
Summary: A story that started way back when Marine Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs was on Operations in Bosnia, may finish with the deaths of several Naval Lieutenants. One Shot: Case Fic. . Set during Series 5.


**Yeah, so I don't own anything.**

**This is a one-shot case fic.**

**It's one of the better- shorter ideas that have come through the free writing exercise.**

**Hope you enjoy**

**Sarajevo 1998**

It's 1998 and Marine Reserve Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs is in trouble, the US operation in Bosnia has suffered from mission creep and following the Marine code first in last out, he and the 10 or so men under his command have been dropped into the city of Sarajevo with the aim of calming tension and securing the green zones recently vacated by evacuated ex-pats. Unfortunately 22 hours ago blue on blue fire destroyed a huge swath of the city, separating Gibbs marines as they ran for cover. Gibbs was now alone, making his way through hostile streets where angry gangs, hostile anti-government combatants and mercenaries all made every corner a potential battle zone. Gibbs was well armed, M16, Sniper rifle, Sig and backups, however he was one man without a fire partner and every decision was based on the quietest route back to green.

He entered the next burning street at a crouch, sometime in the recent hours a massive battle had taken place, the smell of cordite and burning petrol filled his nostrils, and he started to choke. He'd been moving during the night, sleeping well nipper dozing during the day to conserve energy and lessening his likelihood of being spotted. Now however the dawn was starting to rise again, and he needed to find some shelter. He was less than 2 klics from the meet point but at this pace he wouldn't make it for at least another 12 hours. He stopped and pressed himself into the shadows, in front of him there was someone crouching in the doorway of a burnt out shop. Above the crouched person, in the building opposite, in a perfect stand-off position was a sniper.

Gibbs could see the person in the doorway was utterly pinned down, as he crept closer, he saw them in the half light. The first thing he noticed was the shoulder length hair, the oddly angular features and the tight cropped t-shirt. The person in the doorway was a girl, from where Gibbs stood she looked no more than 16, military style boots and trousers, but otherwise everything about her said non-combatant. The sniper on the other hand, was a pro, probably one of the Russian mercenaries brought in to swell the ranks of the hostiles. Why the Sniper had his sights of the girl, Gibbs had no idea, but she couldn't stay there much longer, and when she made a mistake, she was going to go down. He crept along the street till he was nearly opposite the girl, he could see she carried a small NATO style ammo bag over her shoulder, and held tightly in her hand was a 9mm berretta.

He caught the girl's attention, and signalled at her to be silent and watch him. He signalled back her understanding, and pointed upwards to show the sniper keeping her down. He nodded, he carefully removed his pack, unslung his M16 from his side, picking up his sniper rifle, securing his sig, his prepared to run across the short distance. He carefully assessed the odds, if there was one sniper he'd be fine, the time it took to reload and the unexpected angle of Gibbs appearance should in theory take the guy by surprise. That was the theory.

He counted down from 3 for the girl, when he got to one, he ran, and she shot 6 rounds towards the snipers position. Gibbs was impressed with her thinking, but had little time to dwell on it, as the sniper returned fire, taking a chunk of brickwork millimetres from his head he dived at the girl, grabbing her round the waist and driving her back further into the doorway. The tumbled into the main body of the burnt out shop, as the sniper loosed 2 more rounds. Gibbs set up his own rifle, without a word to the girl, he used an old box as a rest, carefully set up the shot loaded and then paused. He gave the girl a look and she fired two rounds through the window, widely missing the snipers nest, but bringing him to the window to line up a further shot. The moment the black haired mercenary lined his sights, Gibbs fired, hitting the man squarely in the forehead, killing him dead.

The girl let out a massive breath, and Gibbs turned to her "You OK?" he asked sharply.

"Yeah, I've been here" she checked her watched, a chunky pink Baby G "for 2 hours, I couldn't shift him".

"Gibbs" he offered her his hand.

"Annie" she shook his hand.

**Present**

Four naval Lieutenants had been sniped in a 24 hour period, Lapua 308 boat tailed Moly coated round had been found with the last body, it had brought unnecessary comparisons to the mind of the MCRT between this case and Ari. The first three bodies had been forensically clean, the fourth had been the difference.

"Sniper didn't police his brass" Gibbs had whispered walking away.

No link had been found between the four Officers, the first clue they had was the brass and that in itself was a mystery. The idea that someone was baiting Gibbs was always a possibility, but no link between NCIS and the Lieutenants could be found either. The Director conscious that Gibbs was often not the most stable of minds had sent him home for the night. Gibbs went to the bar and ordered a double Bourbon.

"It often says a lot when a man drinks on his own?" the soft female English voice told him, whispering close into his ear.

"You wouldn't believe it"

"Oh I would Gunny" she whispered huskily "Don't look round, do you have to investigate the Lieutenants?"

"It's kind of my job?"

"It's mine to send them to their next destination" she whispered "I am nearly done"

"You have other targets?" he asked facing the bar and squinting into the mirror, realising he could just make out a dark black crop of hair and little else.

"I have other targets" she confirmed.

"You didn't police your brass?"

"I knew you had nothing" she swallowed "and I knew you of all people would appreciate a fellow professional's work"

"You working on your own?" he asked, but looking in the mirror he knew the odd woman had already left.

The next morning Gibbs walked into Abby's lab and stared at screen, "You got something for me?" he asked

"It might be nothing" Abby said staring at the Agent cautiously

"Abby?" Gibbs warned

"Well" McGee stepped in "We've been searching for another link between them, and we think we may have found one"

"The Lieutenants are all members of an MMORPG" Abby explained "you remember?"

"Yeah I remember" Gibbs explained "Anyone else, any other Lieutenants on that list?"

"Yes a few?" McGee started

"Find me names"

"Boss?"

"She's got a hit list, I want to get to them first"

Several hours later the MCRT were acting out the role of protective detail, Lieutenant George Osborne was under their care, he had been identified as the next likely target. They'd been accompanying Osborne's car when Gibbs gut started playing up, travelling through a Valley in Virginia he'd seen a glint on the horizon.

"SNIPER" he'd shouted, forcing tony to swerve the first car in front of the second, and sending them all to a juddering halt. He got Osborne out of the car into a more defensive position when the show came whizzing over his head, and the man beside his head exploded. He swore loudly, he'd screwed the pooch and now he was going to have to start again from square one.

**Sarajevo 1998**

Gibbs and Annie sat in the now emptied snipers nest, the city started to wake and the sound of sporadic gunfire and shouts filled the city. Annie took apart her weapon and carefully and professionally cleaned it, Gibbs checked over his weapons and repacked his gear.

"What are you doing here?" Gibbs asked suddenly.

"Got left behind in the evac" she shrugged "been sleeping rough since the British Hotel got bombed"

"Where are your parents?"

"Mum went with the first Evac, I had schools so I stayed with my Dad" she shrugged again "He's a Naval attaché, he got called out the morning of the second Evac, I waited for him but he didn't come back" Annie holstered her gun "I don't suppose you've got any 9mm clips in that kit have you?"

"You out?"

"I've got 2 left" she shrugged "36 rounds altogether is not going to get me very far"

Gibbs unclipped one of his spare pistols and passed it to her, ".45 ACP, and enough cartridges to get you out of trouble"

"Thanks" she smiled "What about you, why are you out here on your own".

"Explosion" he shrugged

"Thought Marines never left a man behind Gunny?"

"Got to get to the meet up within 36 hours or they'll come looking" he sighed

"It's easier said than done" she patted his arm "I've been trying to get to the green zone for days, every time I seem to get anywhere these bastards come out of the woodwork and try to shoot me" she laughed "Who wants to shoot a 15 year old girl honestly"

"Your 15?" he asked

"16 next birthday" she smirked "and I am packing" She laughed "Sorry I think its gallows humour"

"Rule 6, never apologise it's a sign of weakness"

"You have a rule for everything Gunny?" she asked.

This time Gibbs smirked "Working on it".

**Present**

He got home and dumped his back in the corner of the room, he turned on the lights only for the phone to ring. "I wouldn't have hurt your team" the girl on the end of the line told him.

"Excuse me?" he asked

"You saw my sight flash" she told him "It gave you time to get your team out of the way"

"You can't have known that!"

"It's an odd profession ours isn't it?" she told him

"Our profession?"

"Snipering, just us and out prey"

He smirked "Who are you?"

"The person you are looking for, although I think you're misguided"

"Who are you working for?"

"If I told you your government would you believe me?"

He laughed "Yes, but I don't think you are"

"No" she conceded, "not quite"

"What do you want?"

"Honestly?"

"It would be a start"

"To finish my job and go home to my kids"

"You have a family?"

"A boy and a girl, I don't want you to snipe me before I go home to them?"

"Go home now, and I won't"

"I can't do that"

"Contract not yet filled?" he asked bitterly

She laughed "Oh I wish I did this for private contract, but I like you Agent Gibbs are a wage slave"

He laughed "You're right, this is a fucking odd job we do".

"I like talking to you Gibbs" the girl on the line told him, "It's been a long time" she hung up.

Gibbs hadn't slept, he'd racked his brain for who the girl could be, he'd met many over the years, but mostly men. From Sniper School, to the various war zones he'd been in of the few female snipers he'd met none of them matched this girl's description. The closest was Ziva, and she wasn't sniping at herself. He went into work, early and looked down the list of possible targets, if this was a sanctioned hit list, there had to be something that connected them other than profession and membership to Hospital Tycoon 3. He searched through the victims looking for a connection he and the team had missed, why would a foreign government be taking out US Naval Lieutenants. His looked up from his desk a Benny placed the mail down in front of him, he smiled and flicked through it. A technical mag for McGee, some letters for DiNozzo none which looked threatening, a letter in Hebrew for Ziva and some memos to him from Jenny. On the bottom of the pile was a carefully hand printed letter to Gny Sgt LJ Gibbs. He sniffed it, it smelt of perfume, no post mark, he lifted it to the light, it seemed to contain nothing but a letter. He carefully opened it with his knife.

Gibbs poured the contents onto the desk, there was a handwritten note and a photograph. The picture showed a little girl and boy smiling widely at the camera, there was something vaguely familiar about the girl, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He read the note.

_Dearest Gibbs,_

_If this assignment has told me anything it's that over the years I should perhaps have kept in touch, I thought in lieu of that I would forward you a picture of my children. My little girl is 3, her name is Sara her brother is 1 and in honour of yourself his name is Jethro. When this is all over, I hope we can meet on mutual terms, and you can meet them. I understand now the pain of leaving your loved ones when you go on operation, and although my job is one I love, I would happily give it all up to be a Mum._

_I have to say rule 10 and rule 11, together are what's getting me through this. I'm sure you will appreciate your rules being quoted back to you, over the years have tried to live by them. Even my son can quote them verbatim. This op has put us on opposite sides, however that is the thing with our job, the side is picked for you. However I need you to understand exactly what you are protecting, so with humble apologies to Rule 4, I send you this clue to what you are protecting._

_Zec kopa repu, a lisica čamac_

_Vuk im se prikrade, zeca da ukrade_

_Zec spazi repu, a lisica čamac_

_Vuka nije bilo, U SNU IM SE SNILO._

_There is little point in warning you off, because if you have yet to remember me, you must now know that I remember you. However I hope that you realise I am not goading you, I am doing my best to keep you and your team safe whilst completing my mission._

_Finally whatever happens I must thank you for my life, and tell you, that you have never been out of my thoughts and prayers._

_Yours in friendship always._

_A_

_X_

**Sarajevo 1998**

"How long have you got left?" Annie asked Gibbs staring at her watch.

"6 hours" he whispered.

"You ready to move?" she asked, creeping to the window "it's dark enough to move about again"

"Annie do you have a knife?" He asked.

"A pen knife? Why?"

"Rule 9, always carry a knife" he took his spare and past it over, "clip it to your belt".

She did as she was told, and silently followed him down the stairs and out into the street. Sticking close into the shadows they walked through the ruined streets, burnt out cars littered the roads, barricades had been built, and every corner had to be carefully negotiated. It had passed Gibbs mind more than once that he should be protecting this girl, not using her as a fire-partner, but what choice did he have, and for a child she was surprisingly well adjusted to her situation. He'd seen E3's fall apart under this sort of pressure.

They turned a corner slowly, and Gibbs grabbed the scruff of her neck, and pulled her back behind him, as a burst of automatic rifle fire raked where she'd been standing a few moments before.

"Thanks" she breathed hard.

"Rule 15, always work as a team" he raised the M16 and fired round the corner, there was no returning fire.

When they got through the set of back streets they'd been negotiating, they emerged onto an embankment "If we go to the water's edge, and walk along we'll be out of direct lines of fire" she suggested, "I've been trying to get down here, it should lead straight to safety"

Gibbs assessed it "It could be shooting range" he told her.

"We'd better move fast then" she smiled, and he smirked back.

**Present**

When Tim, Ziva and Tony walked in, it was to find Gibbs listening to a nursery rhyme on his computer.

"Everything OK Boss?" Tim asked, sitting down at his desk.

"What's the connection between the Lieutenants?" Gibbs asked.

"Naval Lieutenants, use the same online game" Ziva told him.

"Boss?" Tony asked

Gibbs stood up, "these are professional hits, and I believe they are sanctioned by a foreign power, I need to know what these men have done that means they've ended up on someone's watch list, Tim"

"Double checking Interpol, on it boss"

Tony?"

"Check foreign holidays and postings, on it"

"Ziva, with me"

Gibbs walked swiftly down to Abby's lab, Ziva following behind. Abby was dancing happily at her computer when Gibbs came in.

"Hey Abs"

"Gibbs, I haven't got anything for you, am I trouble?"

"No keep the music high" Gibbs ordered as she went to turn it down "Abby this got sent to me today, analyse it" he gave her the letter.

Abby read it carefully "You know the sniper"

"She apparently knows me?"

"She?" Ziva asked

"She" Gibbs confirmed "Ziva, there are very very few female snipers, this one's English, mid to late 20's and working for a government, find her for me"

Ziva nodded "I am not to tell Tony and McGee, yes?"

Gibbs nodded and walked away leaving his two girls alone in the lab.

He walked up to the Directors Office, and with a nod to Cynthia walked straight in.

"Jethro" Jenny smiled.

"Can we talk in private?"

She gave him an odd look and then pressed the com "Cynthia we aren't to be disturbed" then looking up "Is everything OK?"

"Jen, I need to tell you about Sarajevo".

**Sarajevo 1998**

"How long have you been a Marine?" Annie asked when they stop for a break, moving fast in the cold air was hard work and exhaustion had forced frequent stops.

"Since I was 16" he smirked.

"Cool, ever wanted to do anything else?" she asked biting into a chocolate bar he'd shared with her.

"Actually I'm a reservist" he shrugged.

"What do you do?" she asked "don't tell me, you're an accountant?"

"Actually I'm a federal agent"

"Like FBI?" she giggled "Like Mulder and Scully?"

"NCIS"

"Then why are you here" Gibbs looked at the girl, being so ridiculously brave, but desperate to be distracted "OK but you mustn't tell anyone"

"Cross my heart"

"My girlfriend dumped me"

"Oh" she patted his arm "oh that's really sad, it's like from a movie the broken hearted lover goes off to war"

"She left me a dear John letter in Paris" he shrugged "so I took the next op to get me away from work for 6 months".

"Oh" she shrugged "Aren't you a bit old for a girlfriend?"

"I'm 37!" Gibbs pushed her lightly "Anyway I've been married 3 times"

"Have they all dumped you?" she smirked to show she was joking.

"Where did you get the Beretta?" Gibbs asked her changing the subject.

"Dead guy guarding the British Hotel" she shrugged

He nodded, "how did you know how to use it?"

"It's the same as my Dad's" she checked the 9mm automatically "I didn't kill him"

"I wasn't accusing" Gibbs told her, "You ready to run?"

She stood up and nodded, and they set off again into the dark.

**Present**

"You think this Annie is our sniper?" Jenny asked.

"I've wracked my brains Jen, she speaks Serbian, initials right"

"You got a surname?"

"I'm trying to remember" he rubbed his hand over his face "I made her killer"

"Gibbs" she smirked "you were a DI, you've trained hundreds of agents you don't make killers, you train probies".

"She was a 15 year old kid"

"Who had no place to be in a war zone" Jenny stroked his arm "you kept her safe, she obviously remembers you."

"Jen"

"If this is a black op, we won't get a finger on her" The Director told him "she's gone out of her way to keep you and your team safe, she's a professional Gibbs, not your responsibility".

"The poem" he whispered "It's a code, it's not right. It should read the Rabbit digs the turnip, the fox digs a beetroot, the wolf is sneaking up on the rabbit, Rabbits gets the turnip, fox gets the beetroot but the wolf doesn't exist, it's in their heads."

"And your girls poem?"

"The fox is destroying a boat, and that last line is in block capitals, the wolf doesn't exist it's all in their heads".

"You think they're terrorists?" Jenny asked

"I think Annie does"

"So where do we go from here?" Jenny asked

"I'm gonna force her to come to me" He smirked and walked away smartly.

**Sarajevo 1998**

Within sight of the green zone, Gibbs pulled Annie to one side "My name is Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs, my service number is 817657320" he watched her eyes "repeat that back for me"

"Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs, 817657320"

"Good girl, you get into trouble, you give that to any marine, and they will find me"

"Thank you Gibbs" she smirked "Jethro?"

He laughed "If you want" he took her arm and walked her up to the check point. After a 20 minute debriefing he never saw her again.

**Present **

Gibbs sat at his desk awaiting the phone call, he sat back watching his team work on a case that was never going to face the light of day, eventually his phone rang and he let it go twice before picking it up. "Yeah Gibbs"

"Agent Gibbs this is the gate at Quantico, I have a British Naval Officer asking for you?"

"Yep," he smirked "Get someone to bring her to the Naval Yard"

"Sir?"

"Just do it"

An hour later the elevator opened and two Marines marched out between them a dark haired woman in a Royal British Naval Commanders uniform walked in assessing everything. Ziva and Tony looked up watching her walk through Tim meanwhile watched Gibbs who stood and walked towards her. "Commander Penn-Turner" he greeted

"Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs" she reached out her hand and Gibbs gave the Marines a look to show they were dismissed, "I've always wondered what your office looked like" he smiled.

"Welcome Annie" she dropped her hat onto his desk and wrapped her arms around him.

"It's lovely to see you Jethro"

"Thank you for the note" he whispered into her ear, "and the picture".

"I'm in trouble Gunny, I've come for help offered" she whispered back

"I know" he whispered then turned to the team "Commander Penn-Turner, has information regarding our case, she's going to be around for the next few days, understood?"

"Yes boss" three voices chorused

"Come on" he said to Annie running up the stairs.

The walked straight into Jenny's office and Gibbs made the introductions "Jenny Shepherd "Annie rolled the name round for a moment "You're the Jenny aren't you?" she smirked.

"The Jenny, Commander?" The director asked

"Gibb's Jenny, Jenny from Paris?"

The Director blushed and Gibbs smirked "Annie, tell us what you know"

"Is this room secure?" she asked

"You trust me?" Gibbs asked

"Only person I do" she shrugged "My op is classified, you had 10 Naval Lieutenants who were planning an attack on a Nuke sub in the Labrador Straight, they contacted each other through an MMORPG, and between the 10 they had enough clearance to carry out the op. Your government didn't have enough to take them out, wouldn't issue an op to take them down while they may have had valuable information"

"So your government sent you?" Jenny asked "Why?"

"It wasn't a US sub" Gibbs supplied.

"It's one of ours, if you wouldn't clear up your mess I had to do it" Annie told them.

"So why do you need my help?" Gibbs asked

"You kept getting in the way, Rule 10" Annie told him

"Don't let a case become personal" Jenny supplied "You taught her your rules?"

"I memorised them" Annie laughed "When Gibbs entered my sights, I knew I had a problem" she shrugged "If I fail in this, lots of people are going to die, and one of them will be me"

"You think these Lieutenants know who you are?" Gibbs asked

"My government does" she shrugged again "I've not feared death since Sarajevo, but I have kids now and they don't have a father".

"I need help, there are three left, and they need to be gone before Saturday" She looked at Gibbs "Help me".

"Unwritten rule" Gibbs smiled

"My government can't know" she told him, "neither can yours" she looked at Jenny "Ma'am".

"We understand commander" Jenny told her, "what do you propose"

"Gibbs team continues to look for me as a murderer" Gibbs looked at her "and he and I take out the remaining Lieutenants".

Jenny looked between the two of them "Jethro?"

Gibbs swallowed smiled and shook his head all in one go "whatever you tell me director".

"Who's the chick Tim?" Tony asked as they disappeared upstairs.

"Commander Annie Penn-Turner RN" Tim read the file in front of him "Naval Attaché" he looked through the file "Doesn't seem anything out of order, got 2 kids, Jethro and Sara"

"Jethro?" Ziva asked.

"She certainly knew Gibbs" Tony chewed his pen "Jethro!"

"Has she worked with NCIS before?" Ziva asked

"Not in the files?" Tim told them.

"Maybe Gibbs has another secret family?" Tony wondered out loud

"No" Tim read the files "She lives in London, she' 24"

"24?" Ziva asked "a commander at 24?"

"Bond, James Bond" Tony smirked, "McTim she's no Commander, she's a Spy"

"Tony?" Ziva asked

"James Bond, Commander James Bond RN" he smirked "That's the cover for MI6 operatives, naval attaché".

"You think she knows Gibbs from his undercover work?" Tim asked

"Surely she's too young?" Ziva asked

"I've been here 6 years" Tony told them "that would make her 19?"

Gibbs came down the stairs and stood behind Tony "Who would that be DiNozzo?"

"Hi boss, erm yeah Hi?" He waved at Annie, "we were just wondering?"

"You three continue on the shooter, the Commander and I are following a lead" he went to his desk took out his Sig, and grabbed his keys and coat "Come on" he told Annie walking towards the elevator.

She leant low over Tim's desk and whispered "He saved my life in Sarajevo, 1998" and followed him.

"You didn't have to tell them anything" Gibbs told her when they got into the elevator.

"They're your team?" she told him "Surely it's easier for them to know?"

"Nope"

She smirked "I followed your progress, you got married again?"

"It didn't work out"

"And you and Jenny?"

He gave her a withering look.

"Shame" she smiled.

"You named your son after me"

"I named Sara as well" she smiled "You saved my life, I'm grateful"

"You could have phoned me" he told her "written me a letter?"

"My bad" she smirked "I will from now on"

"Is it my fault?" he asked "Is this something I did to you?"

She laughed "In the last 9 years, have you ever stopped fighting? Have you ever had a day when you weren't running from or to something? I went from a debrief with the marines, to a debrief with NATO, to a debrief with British Military Intelligence, to a debrief with a psychoanalyst. Do you know what happened then? I got offered a place at Wellesley, then Shorncliff, Chatham, Sandhurst, from there I went straight into the field." She stared at him "I've never stopped running from that sewer in Sarajevo Gibbs" she patted his arm "It's not your fault".

"NCIS wasn't in Sarajevo in '98" Tony told them after an hour.

"You're still on this?" Ziva asked.

"She says the boss saved her life, she's a spy, and of course I'm still on this!"

He swirled round on his chair, "You know Tony, she didn't call him Agent Gibbs" Tim told him.

"She called him Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs" Tony chewed his pen and then brought up Gibbs file again, after a few moments "Marine Reservist Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs did an 8 month tour with the SFOR Bosnia in 1998".

"There you go mystery solved, can you please go back to work now?" Tim asked.

But Tony was already out of his desk and walking towards the elevator.

"Where are you going now?" Ziva shouted

"I'm going to get the mission records!"

Gibbs watched the girl carefully clean her sniper rifle at his kitchen table, she had already cleaned her side arm and back up. Stripped of her uniform and back in urban DPM, she looked older, less swamped more natural. He'd changed into beige combats and a t-shirt. "What's the plan?" he asked.

"I have eyes on the three remaining marks" she nodded "I want to take them but simultaneously it'll be quicker and we can forget all about this" she smirked "I want to take them out at Norfolk"

He laughed "three?"

"There's a dead Lieutenant at Quantico" she scrubbed at her face "Gibbs my children come first" she looked up at him "I want to see them grow up, I'm good at this but luck doesn't hold, I've never taken a bullet" she looked at him "how many have you taken?"

He smirked "A few" he admitted.

"I can't do that" she shook her head "Is that why you joined NCIS?"

"I've been shot for NCIS" he smirked, she glared at him "Yes".

"I could walk into any job, I could go home after this and walk into any job, but will I miss this?"

Gibbs laughed "I'd go back tomorrow"

She stood up and hugged him "You didn't make me Jethro, but I'm glad you're on my side" his eyes widened with amusement "we're the similar people Gibbs".

"Do me a favour Annie" he whispered "when this is over go home, kiss your kids, resign".

She nods "I'll come and bring them for a visit" she looked at him "If that's OK".

"I'd like that" he nodded and smiled "You ready?"

"Always am" she smirked.

Tony was throwing paper into his waste bin when the phone rang, he checked the caller ID, "How does he know?" he said to himself "Hi Boss?"

"Dead Lieutenant Quantico, grab your gear, you're heading it up"

"Boss?"

"Do it DiNozzo".

When they got to Quantico Ducky and Palmer were already finished with the body, Gibbs having called Ducky first.

"Same MO boys" Ducky told them "Sniper single shot to the head"

"Where's Agent Gibbs?" Palmer asked looking up and smiling

"Following a lead" Tim told him taking more photos.

Gibbs watched her carefully take position, it was a good position one he'd have chosen. It was odd watching the girl, he kept thinking about Sarajevo, she'd watched him do very similar, holding a gun as if her life depended on it, now he held the gun because hers really did.

He faded into the shadows as the car pulled up, her Intel was superb, in a quieter moment she was going to have to give him up her sources. She stayed quiet, unmoving as a second car pulled in behind it, the two men shared some words and shook hands. Gibbs thought she'd blown it when they turned back to the car. There was sound behind him of a motorbike, followed by three shots, three kills. He smiled, the motorbike had skidded to a halt dumping its dead occupant on the grass, and the other two men lay dead side by side.

He whistled and she stood up, packing away her rifle, and walking towards him. "It's over?" she asked "Or are you going to arrest me for that?"

"Not going to arrest you Annie" he smiled "You ready to run?" she laughed, slung her case over her shoulder and walked into the woodland scrub, with him following.

Gibbs poured her a large bourbon as they sat in his basement, his boat was holding a fascination for her, as she went over it, a snipers eye looking for floors in the walls as she did. "How do you get it out?"

"I'm not telling" he smirked

She shook her head "When will someone find the bodies?"

"Depends, you want me to call it in?"

"No" she smirked "There's no evidence to link either of us to the case, and we are each other's alibies, when someone calls you to tell you, we'll both go, your team will find all ten suspects on the list have been whacked, job done"

He laughed "You walk away?"

"I walk away" she smirked "Thank you"

"You do what you can for family".

Gibbs sat back in his office, his team still worked on the shootings but the trail was completely cold, all their possible victims were dead, no reason, no clues. Gibbs felt bad for them, but the idea that a Nuke sub was safe, the world was slightly safer made up for the feeling his was betraying Rule 1, don't screw over your partner. He looked up when the elevator doors opened, and smiled as Annie, back in her uniform came out. She walked towards his desk, smiling at Ziva, Tony and McGee as she did. "Good morning team" she smiled, "Agent Gibbs" she smirked.

He stood up "Back to the UK Annie?"

"I'm booked on a flight in less than an hour" She smiled and held out a manila file "My role has some far reaching links, and I thought your team would like to see this"

He took it, and made a show of reading it, "Thank you Commander" he told her, throwing the file to McGee.

"You do what you can for family" she smirked.

"Which rule is that?" Ziva asked.

"The unwritten one" Tony supplied.

**In 1998 I was 15 and living in Eastern Europe during the Kosovo crisis, in March 1998 Serbian forces slaughtered a whole village in the name of security. Albania, Serbia, Yugoslavia and Macedonia were all in crisis, despite this being at the height of Eastern European NATO security ops, there was this tinder keg ready to explode. In the August bombings of US embassies made the whole thing ten times worse and the US started a bombing campaign. When I went with my parents to the shops, or out for a drive we passed hundreds of US trucks, all technically part of the peacekeeping, but it was scary. US Marines, heavily armed, scouting out the roads, the cities, places I played, it was horrific. By April 1999 it was no longer safe were we were, on the 25th NATO "accidentally" bombed Sofia, and we we're evac'd out with hundreds of other ex-pat families. Realistically I was never in any danger, but I remember those months. **


End file.
